Existentialism: Fresh Wounds
by chromodynamic
Summary: The second of two simultaneous and parallel sequels to Existentialism, this time from Miku's perspective. Awakening in a strange, unfamiliar place one year after the events of Existentialism, can Miku escape and make it back to the only person who cares about her?
1. Chapter 1: Hypersomnia

It was a cold start up. How long had I been off? Too long, that's how long. My chronometer hadn't kicked in yet. That was a long time, then. Sluggishly, I sat up, my eyes unfocused. It was so blurry, everything was so blurry. Every synthetic muscle in my body felt tight and knotted and numb. Very uncomfortable. I tried my best to shake the numbness from my head but it wasn't working at all.

As everything started to come into focus, I saw that I was at least wearing my clothes - but they were covered in dust, as if I'd been lying here for years. Maybe I had been? I didn't like that thought. It made me feel very lonely.

One year. It had been just under a year since I was last activated. Why so long? What happened? Everything seemed so foggy and cold. I looked down at my hands, hands that were trembling. What happened? And why was I so cold?

I tried looking around but my neck was too stiff and my eyes were too blurry. I rubbed the back of my neck, groaning with discomfort. That was when I found the wire sticking out of my neck, which sent a shiver down my spine. I wanted to pull it out, but something told me not to do it. It was a bad idea, for some reason.

I was lying on sort of a metal bench with soft padding. There was a bright spotlight overhead casting light around me, and the rest of the room was pitch black. I couldn't tell how big the room was. All I could tell was that it was cold and dark and unfamiliar. Was this what it was like to have nightmares? Maybe it was a good thing I could never sleep after all…

I heard something move in the shadows. I did my best to look around, but I could still see nothing past the blackness. It was as if somebody had swept an impenetrable curtain of black around this bench thing I was sat on. I tried to ask who was there but all that came out was disjointed syllables.

My head was starting to feel really heavy. My eyelids were drooping and dropping. So heavy. I lay my head back down on the bench, waiting for something, anything, to happen. The room was silent, and there wasn't even the barest hint of any wind.

It was scaring me. It was so cold and lonely in this room. For how long was I going to be stuck here? I rolled onto my side, curled into a ball, and shut my eyes, waiting for something to happen.

The minutes dragged on and on. The way the seconds lagged was painful. It was almost as if they were sticky or drunk or some third thing that would slow something down. I heard something else move in the dark, but when I opened my eyes there was still nothing but blackness outside of the spotlight. I closed them again. The blackness was frightening. I couldn't tell what lay beyond it, what was watching me. I curled a little tighter. I wasn't sure whether I was shivering from the cold or shivering with fear. Either way, I was still shivering.

I was beginning to notice the wires trailing in and out of my body in various places, snaking under clothes and slipping into my skin. It reminded me of how much of a machine I really was in the end. I didn't like that. It was ever so painful to think that I wasn't as human as I felt.

There was something in my pocket. I didn't know how I hadn't noticed it before, but it was there. Sluggishly, I reached in to grab it, and pulled it out. I couldn't remember putting anything in my pocket, but then again I couldn't remember much at all at that moment. I did my best to pull the object close to my face, where my blurry eyes could best make sense of if.

It was a bluish oblong shape with holes in it, but it was covered in cracks with splinters sticking out here and there. There was a rounded cone-shaped mouth piece as well. It was an ocarina. More than that, it was my ocarina. Somebody gave it to me. I could only half remember who it was. It was as if the memory had dulled and faded. I could remember nothing but a face.

All of a sudden I felt even lonelier. I held the ocarina close to my heart. I didn't feel any better. Something was trailing slowly down my cheek. Was that a tear? Probably.

So here I was. Alone in a dark room on a cold bench with wires trailing in and out of me, holding a broken instrument as close to my heart as I could. I had no idea where I was or how I got here. Where was… he? Him? I couldn't seem to remember his name. Wasn't he supposed to look after me? I wanted to cry, but I was too… tired? Was it tiredness that I felt?

Once more I heard something move. I opened only one eye - but this time I could see somebody, half shrouded by shadow. I pushed myself once more into a sitting position, staring blindly into the black.

"Hello, Miku," She said plainly.

"L….Lu...ka?"


	2. Chapter 2: Rising

"So," Luka said as she paced around the edge of the spotlight, her black dress melting into the shadows. "You _do_ remember me?"

It seemed so. Her voice was so familiar, recognisable, that there was no mistaking it. I'd met Luka before, but… where? Another mystery to add to the growing list. "Yes? No? I don't know…" Everything was still so fuzzy.

"Damn." She muttered, pausing for a moment before she started pacing in the opposite direction. Who was Luka and why was she here with me? I tried to stand, but my legs gave up and I feel to the ground. The ocarina fell from my grasp and rolled along the floor. I reached out for it, but it had already rolled too far. Luka moved her foot in its path, and it stopped.

Luka knelt down into the light, and finally I got an actual look at her. Her light pink hair flowed down her back to her hips, her sky-blue eyes filled with curiosity. "What's this?" Delicately, she took the ocarina into her hands. "It's broken. Does it mean much to you?" Luka looked up at me. Her eyes looked as if she were trying to read my mind. I was about to open my mouth to answer, but she spoke first. "I see. Well, no use in keeping it from you."

I looked up at her as she came toward me. She was surprisingly graceful. "Where am I? Luka?"

Luka shrugged as she offered a hand to help me up. "You're in one of five rooms that you're going to spend a long, long time in. Apart from that… I have absolutely no idea where we are."

I was about to take the hand that she's offered before I noticed that two of her fingers were missing. I drew my hand back quickly, mostly out of shock. "Y… your hand."

Luka nodded. "I know. It happens to the best of us." She snorted and shook her head. "You should've seen Kaito. One little accident and… the whole arm was gone… Poor bastard..." Luka glanced away, as if the scene was flashing before her eyes. Maybe it was. Her stare was much harder when it returned to me. "Are you getting up or not?"

I took a hold of her outstretched hand, and she pulled me to my feet. Everything still felt so heavy. I swayed on my feet unsteadily before sitting back down on the bench. Luka gently placed the ocarina in my lap and sat down beside me. "How much do you remember?"

It took me a moment to realise she'd asked me a question. "I… I don't know."

"You don't remember anything?"

"No, I…" It was hard to explain. I could remember - I knew I could remember - but it just wasn't working. "Everything is just so… fuzzy."

"Nothing at all?" She seemed so worried about me. It reminded me of… somebody. Somebody who I should've been able to remember. "Not even how you managed to get out?"

I shook my head in silent reply. I really wanted to remember, but my head wasn't cooperating with me. My mind felt like it was made of caramel.

"What about your Alter?" The concern on her face seemed slightly more visible, her brow creasing. "Has she been acting up?"

My what? "Alter? What's that supposed to mean?"

Luka sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind. Well, whether or not you remember me..." She put an arm around me affectionately, like she'd known me for years. I forced down a shiver as a hand with not enough fingers slipped into my field of vision. "It's good to have you back. The others are going to be so excited when they see you. When you disappeared before, we were so sure that you were gone forever. We all missed you so much."

"Others?" So it wouldn't just be me and Luka here?

"You really can't remember a thing, can you?" Luka pulled me a little closer. It was making me feel uncomfortable. "Rin, Len, Rana, flower. We had Kaito and Meiko here too, but…" Luka grimaced and shook her head. "Nevermind."

"Where are they?" The wire in the back of my neck had started to itch terribly. Luka was resting her heavy head on my shoulder.

"Rin, Len, Rana and flower are in another room. Kaito and Meiko… gone."

That didn't sound good. "Gone?"

"The equivalent of dead."

"What about…" Who was it? That Vocaloid that I could remember. The one that attacked me and injured my trusted friend. Killed him, almost. "What about Miki?"

Luka just shrugged. "She disappeared in the middle of the night. A shame, really. Miki was always so funny." Suddenly, Luka's tired-looking face turned into a frown. "Wait, if you can't remember anything, how did you know about her?"

It was my turn to sigh. "I don't know. I guess everything is slowly coming back." A word popped into my head. I wasn't sure what it meant, until… "Megurine. Megurine Luka. That's you."

Luka squeezed my shoulder, causing me to flinch. "So it's all coming back bit by bit? That's good. You'll remember everything eventually."

I scooped the ocarina from my lap, holding it close to my chest again. "I hope so. I hope I can remember everything." My vision started to blur as my eyes watered. "I can't remember who gave this to me."

"Ooh, don't cry, Miku," Luka purred at me, freeing her arm from it's hold around my shoulders. There was an odd stinging sensation at the back of my neck as she pulled the wire from it. When I ran my hand over the area, I found that the wire had left no mark or trace of entry. "Come on, let's get you somewhere more comfortable. Can you walk?"

I did my best to wipe the tears from my face. "I… I think so."

"Then let's go see the others. They don't know you're here yet."

But if they didn't know, how did she?


End file.
